7-3.2

The Napoleonic Wars and the Rise of Nationalism in Europe

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence toward the end of the French Revolution. The Napoleonic Wars began after he declared himself emperor in 1804 and Napoleon began his quest for a European empire. Napoleon successfully began leading armies to conquer neighboring countries in Europe. His goal was to create a French empire in Europe and by 1812 he controlled most of Europe. The French Empire extended into parts of Spain and Portugal to the West and into parts of modern-day Germany and Italy as well as other nations to the East. The stopping point of the Empire at its height was at the English Channel to the West and Russia to the East. Britain and Russia were two places Napoleon was never able to conquer and consequently helped lead to his defeat.

Beginning in 1812, Napoleon made three mistakes that led to his downfall:

1. The Blockade of Britain (called the Continental System): Napoleon tried to stop anyone in his empire from trading with Britain. This failed because it was difficult to enforce.

2. The Peninsular War: Napoleon tried to invade Spain and Portugal (Iberian Peninsula), but Great Britain came to their aid and Napoleon was defeated.

3. The invasion of Russia: Napoleon’s armies could not handle the harsh Russian winters and perished.

In 1814, Napoleon surrendered his throne and was exiled to the island of Elba. He escaped from Elba in 1815, gathered his allies and in the Hundred Days, waged his final attempt at power. Napoleon’s final defeat came at Waterloo, where he was defeated by an international force, after which he was exiled for the remainder of his life to the island of St. Helena.

The immediate effects of the Napoleonic Wars were the development and spread of nationalism and further revolutions in Europe. As Napoleon’s armies were conquering other nations, his soldiers also began to spread ideas of the Enlightenment, changes in government, and revolution. These ideas indirectly led to Napoleon’s defeat as people in Europe began learning about challenges to government as well as new systems of government. Napoleon’s armies, who had lived through the French Revolution, shared news of the causes and events of their own revolution, therefore spreading Enlightenment ideas about natural rights, social contract, and limited government. His armies even backed revolutionary governments or movements in the lands they conquered. At the same time, Napoleon tried to impose French customs and culture, and in response, the conquered people began feeling more loyal to their own nations and customs. Citizens of conquered lands such as Austria, Prussia, Italy, and Portugal therefore began wanting to eliminate the French presence in order to gain self-rule, and the idea of nationalism developed and began to spread. Nationalism is the belief that one’s greatest loyalty is to a shared culture, including aspects of common history, language, religion, and nationality, rather than to a leader or border. As a result of Napoleon’s conquest of Europe, nationalist sentiments were ignited. Enlightenment ideals, which manifested into the French slogan of “Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite,” or “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” became the rallying cry for the masses across Europe and throughout the world in the 1800s, contributing to the growth of nationalism, which in turn caused various revolutions across Europe and even into Latin America. Former absolute monarchs who were defeated by Napoleon met after his exile in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna. There they re-established the balance of power in Europe by reinstating absolute monarchies. Also, all lands taken by Napoleon were returned to the nations to which they belonged before Napoleon’s rule.

Because of new ideas that had spread and growing feelings of nationalism, people in Europe wanted a change in government. These absolute monarchs therefore had to suppress the democratic movement encouraged by the French Revolution. Despite these moves to return conservatives (people who are against change and hold to traditional values and attitudes) to power, the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity spread, feeding the nationalist movements of the 1830s and 1840s. The two main aspects of nationalist movements in the 1800s were unification and separation. Unification is when people of a common culture from different states joined together, and separation is when groups splintered off from their current government to form one that was more representative of their own interests. Liberals, those who are open to new ideas and are willing to move away from tradition, and radicals, those who want a total and complete change in social and political reform, led nationalist movements to create nation-states all across Europe after 1815. Nationalist movements within Europe began in the Balkans when the Greeks rebelled against the Ottoman Empire in 1821. Supported by Britain, France, and Russia, Greece became an independent nation in 1830. Despite the arrangements of the Congress of Vienna, revolutions occurred in Belgium, Italy, and Russia. Led by the liberals, revolutions erupted across Europe in 1848. Most were suppressed or put down by conservative groups by 1849, except in France. Charles X had attempted to establish an absolute monarchy in France in 1830 with no success. He was replaced by Louis-Philippe, who ruled until 1848 when he lost favor with the people and was overthrown in favor of a republic. Upon establishment of this republic, the radicals were divided as to what reforms should occur next. This uncertainty allowed the moderates to take control, elect a president, and establish a parliamentary system. Louis-Napoleon (Bonaparte’s nephew) was then elected president. Four years later, Louis-Napoleon took the title of Emperor Napoleon III, taking advantage of the political instability of the country. During his reign, he stabilized and industrialized France.

In Germany, leaders wanted to unify people that shared customs and cultures into one nation. The German Confederation was composed of thirty-nine loosely joined states, of which Austria and Prussia were the largest and most powerful. Prussia had a mainly Germanic population, a powerful army, and a liberal constitution. This gave Prussia the advantage in creating a unified German state. In Prussia, Wilhelm I was in power and was supported by the conservative Junkers, a group of nobles with political influence. Wilhelm appointed Otto von Bismarck, a Junker (pronounced yoon-ker), as his prime minister.

Bismarck took full control of the country, ruling under a policy known as realpolitik, meaning “the politics of reality.” Stating that the decisions of the day would be decided not by speeches but rather by “blood and iron,” Bismarck practiced his realpolitik theory and embarked on a campaign of German unification. There were three wars of German unification from 1864 to 1871 in which Prussia fought Denmark, Austria, and France. In the first war, Austria and Prussia formed an alliance to take land from Denmark. Soon thereafter, Bismarck purposefully created border conflicts with Austria to provoke them into declaring war on Prussia, a war known as the Seven Weeks War. In the final move for unification, Bismarck created an outside threat in an attempt to win the support of the remaining German states. After Bismarck changed the wording of the Ems Telegram to make it appear that Wilhelm I had insulted the French ambassador to Prussia, and published this forged version to media, the French were provoked to declare war, just as Bismarck had hoped. After the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War, German unification was complete. Yellow - a symbol of generosity Red - hardiness, bravery, strength & valor Black - Determination They are derived from the similar colors of the Imperial coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire

In Italy, like in Germany, nationalism caused leaders to want to unify people that shared similar customs and cultures into one nation. Count Camillo di Cavour led the unification of the Northern Italian states. The kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia was the largest and most powerful of the Italian states, with its liberal constitution, unification under this state appealed to many Italians of neighboring northern states. With French assistance, Cavour won the Austrian-occupied land of northern Italy. At the same time, Giuseppe Garibaldi, leader of the Red Shirts, captured Sicily in the south. Cavour persuaded Garibaldi to unite the two sections, in 1860 allowing King Victor Emmanuel II to lead the united Italy with Rome as its capital. Soon thereafter, Venetia and the Papal States were added as well. Four short wars fought between 1859 and 1871 redrew the map of Europe while addressing the questions of German and Italian nationalism. For the next four decades these Great Powers would remain at peace and territorial disputes ceased to divide most of their governments, despite the fact that nationalist grievances continued to fester in some places.

Review Questions

1) What were the only two European countries Napoleon could never conquer? 2) What three mistakes did Napoleon make that led to his downfall? 3) What happened to Napoleon after he surrendered the throne in 1814? 4) Where was Napoleon finally defeated and what was the consequence? 5) How did Napoleon try to change the people he conquered and how did they respond? 6) What is nationalism? 7) What sparked widespread nationalism across Europe? 8) How did the Congress of Vienna try to re-establish a balance of power in Europe? 9) What were the two main aspects of nationalist movements in Europe in the 1800s? 10) Who led nationalist movements across Europe?

11) What kind of government was established in France in 1848? 12) When the radicals could not agree on new reforms, who was allowed to take control?

13) Who was elected president of France and what changes did he bring to the country? 14) What German nation led the German unification movement? 15) Who were the two most important leaders of Prussia? 16) When Otto Von Bismarck took control of Prussia, what policy did he institute? 17) What method did Bismarck intend to use to unify Germany? 18) What three countries did Prussia go to war with? 19) What created the conflict known as the Seven Weeks War? Who was involved? 20) How did Bismarck provoke France into war with Prussia? 21) What final event completed the unification of Germany? 22) Who were the two Italian unification leaders? 23) Who became the leader of unified Italy? 24) How long did the “great powers” remain at peace? 25) What was the driving force behind the unification of Germany and Italy?

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